rorkesdriftvc.com :: View topic

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:20 am

I note that 'Who's Who in the Anglo Zulu War 1879' by Greaves & Knight is out on the 16 November, however, it appears that there are two books, Who's Who in the Anglo Zulu War 1879 & a Volume 2. It also so appears both these books are to be released in November, can anyone confirm I reading this right.

Cheers Laughing

Andy
Four for Valour

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:27 pm

Andy

After checking the Pen & Sword book site, there are 2 volumes.

Volume 1 - The British.

Volume 2 - The Colonials and Zulus.

The mention of the 2nd volume only says it is coming soon. So, perhaps both volumes will indeed be released within a short while of each other.

Coll

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:31 pm

Thanks Coll

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:04 pm

What a shame that the publishers can't spell Isandlwana & Rorke's Drift correctly, and render the names as Iswandhlwana & Rourke�s Drift.

JY

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:46 pm

John:
I went and checked as well and I'm a bit surprised that the spellings would be SO different than what we are used to in AZW literature. I'd think that it has to be almost deliberate. Pen and Sword isn't a fly by night publisher. Perhaps the editors are going back to original forms of how the places were written and known as? Spelling through the ages does change as we certainly see in documents.

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 8:27 pm

Rich,

I'm sorry but I don't think it was deliberate at all, just sloppy, but that's my personal opinion.

JY

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:56 am

John/Rich

As we know, one or two still prefer the Isand(h)lwana spelling, such as Julian and (I believe) Martin, the former having explained that he uses the contemporary spellings generally. The orthographic arguments have been aired here frequently.

However, the use of Rorke's Drift (spelt by my me here with a "u" but presumably automatically corrected by Alan/Peter?) is almost unbelievable! If it is sloppy work on the publisher's part, why haven't the authors brought it up and prevented it? They must have seen the final draft. I can't believe Ian Knight is about to start a trend for a new way of spelling the place. Does this bizarre spelling really appear throughout?

Peter

P.S. John, how did you get your spelling to go through uncorrected - or have Alan/Peter tweaked matters since?

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:07 am

Peter,

It is the way I spell 'em!

I'll contact you later today outside of the forum, when I finished defending the Empire.

JY

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 1:25 pm

I've put in as many intercepts for misspellings of 'Isandhlwana' and the upstart version 'Isandlwana' as I could think. This version was one which I "managed not to think of that old boy!"
You're right on 'Rorke's Drift'. I think I got most of the versions.

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:23 pm

Well gentlemen I did send an email to an editor over at P&S asking about the spelling ...we'll see what they say then if and when they respond....this could be nothing but a meteor hitting the type when they were setting it, eh?.... Wink

...

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:31 pm

Dear All,

As at today - Who's Who is not published - although we have ordered our copies for the shop stock.

For the past 11 months I have been working on a similiar exercise - covering about 200 AZW personalities - who appear in David Rattray's new book on the W W Lloyd watercolours. This research would not have been possible without tremendous help and advise from Ron Lock, Peter Quantrill, John Young, Keith Smith, Mike Snook, Peter Ewart and Kris Wheatley - now the final draft has gone to printers. I spent many hours in TNA at Kew - and in the library at the Castle in Cape Town. Spelling of place names was a challenge - but we sticking to Isandlwana, Rorke's Drift, Hlobane, Khambula, and Ashante. What has interesting is that I have had to do a lot of reading about the subsequent campaigns, Egypt etc where many of the personalities gained further honours.

The 'Wolseley or Ashante ring' links in AZW are interesting, as well as the Eton College ones - Streatfeild was at school with Buller; simliarly Lloyd with Pardoe. And of course Chelmsford was there - as was the Colonial Secretary, and the former Secretary of State, who thought up the idea of federation.

I await the Greaves-Knight publications with interest.

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:12 pm

Martin:

In Kew, eh? Well you know I would've bought you a pint and some lunch to help navigate your way through the TNA stacks!... Wink

...
I await the books too...thx

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:20 pm

In the Who's Who titles, does anyone know if there is a portrait photograph of each of the individuals described ?

Putting a face to the name is always helpful.

Thanks

Coll

PS. I've just received Pen and Sword's mail order catalogue. In the paragraph beside the titles, the Rorke's Drift spelling is correct, but Isandlwana is written Iswandhlana.

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 8:19 pm

Coll,

That's is easy to say - but searching the images out is almost as difficult as doing the text entries themselves. The challenge with attempting a 'Who's Who' is that you have to double check every fact - you cannot rely what other authors have written.

In one reference book I came across this:

Durnford married Frances Transchell of Ceylon in 1854. There are no records of any children.

Which is not entirely true.

But perhaps nearer truth is:

A year later he married Frances Tranchell, the youngest daughter of a retired lieutenant-colonel of the Ceylon Rifles. One son died in infancy, but a daughter, Frances (1857-1919), outlived both parents. A third child, a daughter, Julia, also died in infancy.

What is more difficult to check - because the Victorians tended to be less than precise over name spellings is his wife's maiden name.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:25 pm

Martin

I wasn't sure if they may have been set out like 'The South African Campaign' by MacKinnon and Shadbolt, which has portraits.

I've just received this morning (separate from the catalogue which arrived a few days ago) a detailed A5 leaflet from Pen & Sword Books, solely dealing with the Who's Who volumes, which apparently are available as a Limited Edition Two Volume Set, each signed by both authors in a collector's case. Although this is probably already known by all.

Still, a nice set to add to an AZW library.

Coll